


The Last Goodbye

by bangster_12



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Angst?, Happy Ending?, M/M, a little bit supernatural, fluff?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2020-12-21 03:10:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21067838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bangster_12/pseuds/bangster_12
Summary: Kim Junmyeon is dead. Or is almost dead anyway. His 'soul' is roaming around and only Oh Sehun can see him. And he has a favor to ask of him: to tell all his loved ones goodbye.





	The Last Goodbye

“Would you please stop pacing around? You’re making me dizzy!”

Sehun covered his ears with his hands but continued to pace altogether. He just had the most bizarre experience ever and he’s still wondering if it’s real or not.

“Come on! Will you quit it already?” Junmyeon demanded. He has been watching Sehun pacing around the room for almost half an hour.

“I’m not hearing anything! I’m not hearing anything!”

Junmyeon walked towards him. “With all due respect, you can hear and see me.”

Sehun tightened his cover on his ears. He shut his eyes and increased his pacing speed.

Junmyeon sighed loudly. “Sehun…”

“No! You’re not talking to me…”

“Yes, I am!” he replied exasperatedly. “You can see me! You can hear me! And I know you can feel me if I punch you!”

Junmyeon clenched his fist and aimed for Sehun’s face.

Sehun stopped pacing and looked at Junmyeon’s fist nearing towards him with wild eyes.

“Stop!”

Junmyeon’s fist stopped inches away from his face. “So, all it takes was a punch.”

“That’s not it,” Sehun tore away his eyes from him. “What if your punch goes right through me?”

“Through you?” Junmyeon asked with mischief in his eyes. “Like this?”

He stretched his right arm towards Sehun. The act would have hit Sehun in the chest but his arm just went right through Sehun’s chest.

“Cut it out!” Sehun winced at the chill he felt and jumped backwards, away from Junmyeon. “I told you not to do it!” he added as he rubbed his chest.

“Cool!” Junmyeon said as he examined his arm. “It went right through you! Just like in the movies!”

“But unfortunately for me,” he emphasized the word ‘me’, “this isn’t the movies.” Sehun sat down on his bed and buried his face to his hands. “I don’t know what’s happening to me.”

“Or me,” Junmyeon said casually. “I woke up like this. No one can hear me or see me except you.”

“You really don’t have a recollection of some sort before you…,” he struggled for the right word, “…you become like that?”

Sehun’s voice was muffled by his hands but Junmyeon heard him clearly. “No…I don’t remember…all I know was that it was raining…and I was clutching something on my hand…”

He looked at his hand as if trying to see or remember what he was holding that time.

“And then there came the accident,” Sehun continued. He was looking at Junmyeon now. “It was near here. Can’t you recall why you were there?”

He shook his head and gazed out the window. It was still raining. “No…that’s just all. I can’t even remember that I was in an accident.”

“I really don’t know what to believe at this point,” Sehun said.

“I don’t know if I, myself, am real,” he said softly. “Why did this happen?”

Sehun continued to look at Junmyeon. Why did this happen indeed? Why did such an awful event befall upon him? He knew Junmyeon for seven years. They attended the same school in college. They have the same set of friends. That’s how they met.

Junmyeon was the brainy one in their group. He was lively and outgoing and no bad things were said about him. Sehun once attempted to court him but he obviously was ‘evasive’, saying he doesn’t want a boyfriend while still studying. So he shifted his attention to other guys. And now he’s engaged to be married.

Just then, Sehun's cellphone rang.

“Donghae,” Sehun answered the phone while eyeing Junmyeon.

Junmyeon turned his head towards him.

“I’m sorry,” Sehun said while turning his back on Junmyeon. “I totally forgot today’s rehearsal with the minister. No, let’s just reschedule okay? Alright. Bye. I’ll pick you up later. Love you too.”

He put the phone down and turned back to Junmyeon. He was no longer facing the window. He was looking at the pictures on the table.

“He’s quite beautiful,” Junmyeon said looking at the picture of Donghae and Sehun. “I never met him.”

“Yeah,” Sehun said. “I was gonna set-up a dinner so that you and the others could meet him but…”

Junmyeon turned to him with a sad smile. “I should have met him sooner. Do you think we could become good friends?”

He avoided his eyes as he replied. “I think so. He’s also into writing like you. I mean, he wrote me a poem once.”

Junmyeon nodded and gazed back at the pictures. Ache and longing coursed through him.

He had liked Sehun the first time he saw him. He heard rumors that Sehun was about to court him but he felt scared. He liked him much to the point that he didn’t want to hurt him. And he knew for a fact that his studies will really get in the way, not mentioning the pressure to be an honor student and the constant pressure from his family.

So he decided that it would be best for them not to be together. That’s how his ‘I-prioritize-my-studies-before-anything-else’ attitude became famous.

He thought that when they graduated and started having jobs then he can start a relationship with him. But he was wrong. Sehun didn’t wait for him.

But Junmyeon still felt the same for him.

“Are you okay?” Sehun asked after Junmyeon became unbearably silent.

He smiled again. Not peeling his eyes away from the pictures. “I don’t know if ‘okay’ still applies to me.”

Sehun felt ashamed for asking. _Of course he isn’t okay_, he thought. Then he felt something. The same feeling he always feels when he suddenly remembers Junmyeon or if someone mentioned his name.

“What do you think I should do?” Junmyeon quietly asked.

Sehun subdued the growing feeling he now has for Junmyeon. “I don’t know. What do you think should you do?”

He shook his head. “Do you mind if I stay here for a while? While I’m mulling things over?”

“No,” his answer was so immediate and loud that he, himself, was surprised.

“Aw, come on, no one else sees me,” he said. 

“That’s what I’m worried about. People will think I’m crazy talking to nobody.”

“Then, I’ll not talk. Promise!” Junmyeon held up his right hand.

“No. I’m not talking to a dead person,” Sehun said. When he saw Junmyeon’s face, he regretted what he had said.

“I’m not dead,” he said, almost whispered. “Not yet anyway. I still have 72 hours to know what’s happening.” Then he headed for the door. “Thanks, Sehun.”

“Where are you going?” he can’t help but ask.

“I don’t know. Anywhere, I guess,” he shrugged. He turned for the knob but his hand just slipped through. “I forgot. I hope you don’t mind if I’ll just pass through?”

But before Sehun could answer, Junmyeon was gone.

*** 

Room 408.

His room was still crowded with people. His family. His friends. His cousins. All cuddled up together as they cried and prayed together for his unconscious body.

It pierced his heart to see them. He loved his family and friends but never really told them that. His friends knew how he felt for them. But his family, no. They’re not that type of family who says ‘I love you’ every second.

His mother never left his side since last night. His father came and went for his job. He has to earn more now that there are bills to pay. Though the driver of the car shouldered most of the hospital bills, still there’s a lot to pay.

His heart ached at the sight of his frail grandmother. She took the news of his accident not too well. And she hasn’t been eating when the doctor said that Junmyeon has only a 72-hour period left. If he’s not awake after the third day, or there’s no change in his vital signs, then they will proclaim his dead.

He can’t bear to see his grandmother so distraught. He loved his grandma dearly. He can’t bear to witness any of this.

It was already sunset. Junmyeon’s thoughts were as unsure as his fate. He was going to die, that he knew. But how come his ‘soul’ is wandering remains a mystery. He heard that souls of dead people tend to roam everywhere. But he isn’t dead yet. He’s still comatosed. He hasn’t heard of stories that comatosed people’s spirits roam around. All he knew that those people thought they were just in a very long sleep. But he does not feel that way.

“I thought you would just slip right through anything? So how come you are sitting on the swing?” Sehun said as he stopped at the pole of the swing.

He had searched Junmyeon’s whereabouts since he left. His search led him to a playground near the university they once attended. This was where they used to hang out. Him and Junmyeon. Since, it was almost nighttime, the playground was empty.

Junmyeon just continued to gaze faraway. His head resting on the swing’s chain.

“Aw, now who’s pretending not to hear?” Sehun said. “Hello? I know you could hear and see me well.”

To prove his point, he waved his hand at Junmyeon’s face. This made Junmyeon smile.

“I could hear you. I was just thinking,” he replied.

“About?” he sat on the swing beside his.

“About my situation. I’m not dead, at least not anyway,” he said as a matter of fact. No bitterness in his voice, it was as if he already accepted this fact.

“You sounded so sure that you’ll…die,” Sehun choked out the last word. “Aren’t you afraid?”

“Of course I am,” he replied. “But what good will it do if I succumb to fear? Shall I hope then that I will wake? I know for sure that that won’t happen.”

“Don’t say that,” Sehun said. He can’t understand the fear that suddenly coiled in his chest. Was he as ready to accept Junmyeon’s fate as he does? “There are medical miracles, right? Maybe – ”

But Junmyeon was no longer listening. He doesn’t want to hope.

He just wants to tell the people he’ll leave behind how much they mean to him.

And sudden realization went through Junmyeon.

“I think I got it,” Junmyeon said.

“Good,” Sehun said. “You shouldn’t give up. We still –”

“Not that,” he said dismissively. “I meant why my spirit freely roam!”

“Oh,” Sehun blinked.

“Think about it,” he said. Excitement building up as he realized it. “My accident was so sudden that I didn’t have a time to say anything to anyone. Maybe God gave me this chance to do it.”

“Do what?”

“To say goodbye to all my loved ones!”

***

“Do you think they’ll let me in?”

Sehun turned to Junmyeon. They were standing in front of his house.

“Sure. Just tell them that you’re on an errand for my mom,” Junmyeon said.

Sehun breathed in deeply and then knocked.

A boy of five years old opened the door. “Who is it?”

“Hi there, champ. I’m a friend of Junmyeon’s. Can I come in?” Sehun said.

The door opened wider and Junmyeon’s older brother stood behind the boy. “Yes? Oh, you’re Sehun, right?”

“Oh, hyung. Yes,” he said. He glanced sideways at where Junmyeon stood.

“Come in,” Junmyeon’s brother ushered Sehun inside. The living room was full of scattered toys and three boys playing them. “I’m sorry if it is a bit messy.”

“It’s okay,” Sehun said as he went in. He noticed that Junmyeon didn’t go in. He turned to see where he was. He was still standing beside the door. _What are you doing? Come in!_, he mouthed.

He shook his head. “I can’t,” his voice quivered. His eyes glistened with tears. Then he disappeared.

“Sehun?”

“Oh, sorry,” Sehun said. He sat in the nearest chair.

“Is there something I can do?”

“Yes,” Sehun immediately said. “I was in the hospital and your mom said that Junmyeon keeps a diary. He said that I should pick it up.”

“His diary?”

“Yeah,” Sehun replied. He rehearsed this conversation with Junmyeon. “They said in the hospital that we should talk to Junmyeon. Tell him not to let go. Maybe his diary might help.” He hoped that their bluff won’t be discovered.

“Oh, okay. Follow me. His diary is in his room.”

“This must be very hard for all of you,” Sehun can’t help but say.

Junmyeon’s brother just nodded. They stopped in front of Junmyeon’s bedroom. He opened the door and turned on the light.

The room was small but very organized and colorful, reflecting Junmyeon personality. There was a huge bookshelf near the window. It was larger than the bed. It goes to show how much Junmyeon loved collecting books. On the wall above the bed was a cork board. Besides several post-its of reminders and numbers, several pictures were pinned in it. There were pictures of Junmyeon and his high school classmates and their graduation picture but majority of the pictures were of Junmyeon and the three boys whom Sehun saw in the living room.

“I think his diary is somewhere here,” Junmyeon’s brother said. “He always camouflaged it with his notebooks.” Junmyeon’s brother turned to see Sehun still absorbed by the photos. “Oh, they’re Junmyeon’s favorite photos.”

“Are these boys…”

“My sons always drive Junmyeon mad, but he absolutely loved them. He never came home without bringing something for them.”

Now Sehun understood why Junmyeon didn’t go in. He couldn’t bear to see the boys.

“I don’t know what his diary looks like.”

Sehun peeled his eyes away from the pictures. His heart ached for Junmyeon. Instead of dwelling on this thought, he concentrated at the task on hand.

They decided to go back to Sehun’s room. That way, Sehun can freely talk to Junmyeon without being seen by other people.

Junmyeon has been quiet since they’ve been to his home. Sehun kept on throwing corny jokes just to annoy him but he didn’t even react.

“Shall I read it then?” Sehun held up his diary.

“No!” he dashed up to Sehun, forgetting that he was already a spirit and went right through him. “I keep forgetting that.”

“You better not,” Sehun shuddered at the chill brought by Junmyeon. Physically, he would have been knocked out by his tackle. “Am I in this that’s why you won’t let me read it?”

“N-no,” he turned away. “Why should you be in it? Besides, we’re on a deadline. Let’s go right to my journal entry that would help us.”

“Okay,” Sehun sat down in his bed. “What date then?”

He went beside him but kept his distance. “Try March 3rd. I think that’s where I wrote the people whom I want to spend my last twenty-hours with.”

Sehun fanned the pages to reach March 3rd. “Why would you be writing that? Were you depressed that time?”

“No,” he replied, looking thoughtful. “I think something bad happened to me that time though.”

“Hang on,” Sehun said as he reached the desired page. “March 3rd? Three months ago…” _That’s when I announced to them that I am engaged!_, he thought.

“What? What are you thinking?”

_Could it be_…Sehun shook his head. “Nothing. So where’s the list?”

“There!” Junmyeon pointed the bottom page triumphantly.

*** 

“There are a lot of people in here,” Sehun complained when he saw the list. “We can’t see them all in like two days. That’s all we have left.”

“I’ll try to locate them. Let’s not see them individually but let’s hope some of them have plans to get together tomorrow. Luckily tomorrow’s Saturday.”

Before Sehun could say another word, Junmyeon was gone.

For Sehun, reading the rest of the diary is tempting, especially Junmyeon’s entry on the day of his marriage announcement. But he reined himself in. Junmyeon’s right. They haven’t got much time. They have barely fifty hours left.

Sehun decided to read for clues on what Junmyeon wanted to say to the people in his list. He had always admired Junmyeon’s skill in weaving words into beautiful sentences. He was even impressed in reading bits of his diary. Heart and soul was present in every word.

_My friends,_ a journal entry read, _are extensions of who I am and sometimes they are the people whom I always wanted to be. They laugh for me at times when I couldn’t smile. They shed a tear for me when I couldn’t cry. They reminded me of how I should be contented of who I am and what I have. At points when I thought I have everything, I’ll stumble upon a friend who just lost something dear and made me realize that I don’t have everything. Because if I had everything, then I would’ve been able to give him what he lost. At times when I thought I have nothing, I’ll stumble upon a friend who offers me what I just needed. They are my comfort, they are my joy, and sometimes but not oftentimes, my pain. They have understood me when I couldn’t understand myself. They found me when I was utterly lost. They held me when I was crumbling into pieces. They laughed with me at my stupidest moments. They glared me down when I was out of control. Though now I haven’t seen them quite in a while due to our personal and professional schedules, I still imagine the day when we will be gathered again, either in weddings, baptisms and, God forbid, funerals, then we’ll end up laughing, talking and crying like it all just happened the other day. My friends made this crazy world a bearable place to live in. _

Sehun ended reading the entry and lied in his bed. “Wow,” was all he can say. He knew how much Junmyeon cared for his friends, but he hasn’t realized this much. He felt a glow inside him. He was proud to be one of Junmyeon’s friends. 

“We’re totally in luck!”

Sehun bolted upright from bed. “Jeez, stop doing that!” he clutched his chest. His heart was pounding very hard. Junmyeon was just inches from him.

“What?” Junmyeon asked bewildered. “Can’t you get used to my appearing and disappearing? I’m a ghost after all.”

“No, you’re not,” he said. “And no I can’t get used to your means of barging in and out. Give me a least at hint that you’re leaving or coming.”

“Oh, like a signal?” he asked. “I’ll think of one then!”

Sehun shook his head. “So what’s your ‘We’re totally in luck!’?” he imitated his voice.

He pouted. “I didn’t say it like that.”

“Never mind,” he said. “So what have you got?”

Junmyeon nodded and became formal-like. Sehun wondered if that’s how he usually looked like when he works in his office.

“The situation stands clear and favorable. Just as I thought, most of them will visit my deathbed tomorrow. They,” he continued despite Sehun’s obvious dislike from the usage of the word ‘deathbed’, “will be coming in batches and most people in the list would come. So you better prepare yourself.”

“Will they take me seriously?” Sehun asked. “I can handle our college buddies. But I don’t think I can manage your other friends.”

“Don’t worry,” he said confidently. “Just tell them you’re my confidant and childhood friend and that I share my every secret with you. Best friends in short. And you felt compelled to channel my last words to them.”

“I felt compelled,” Sehun said.

Junmyeon ignored him. “So, you found out what I wanted to tell them?”

“More or less,” he replied. “And you won’t be there to help me, right?” He took his shrug as a yes. “By the way, I didn’t know that you value us that way. Makes me proud to be one of your friends.”

“_They’re_ the siblings that God forgot to give me,” he said with a sad smile.

“So I guess I belong to this group then,” Sehun said. “Since I didn’t specifically find my name in the list, I guess I belong to the ‘Other friends’, right?”

Junmyeon didn’t answer him. He just pretended to be gazing at the pictures again.

“Hey, who’s the last person on the list?”

Junmyeon turned sharply to him. “What?”

“The last person on your list is unnamed. And the last paragraph is torn out from your diary. Did you tear it out?” Sehun asked. “Who’s he?”

“Need not to know. And it would be best if he doesn’t know.”

“Aha!” Sehun suddenly exclaimed. “I think this is your secret inspiration. The boyfriend you have hidden from us!”

Junmyeon just gave him a look and Sehun fell dead silent. “Get your rest, Sehun and I ask you don’t mess it up tomorrow. It’s my only chance to tell these people how much I love them and that no matter how much I wanted not to let go of them, I have to because there’s no other way.” He became very serious then his features turned soft. “And thanks for doing this. I know it’s crazy and unbelievable, but still you’re doing it for me even though I have nothing I could give you back in return.” Then he was at the door. “See you tomorrow. The first batch arrives at ten in the morning.” He placed his hand above the knob. “Oh, here’s my signal for disappearing: Over and out!”

And like that, he was gone. Sehun was left in jumbled thoughts.

It was almost lunch when Sehun finished meeting with Junmyeon’s high school friends. He had fun talking with them and it wasn’t as hard as he thought it would be. They accepted his bluff and didn’t suspect a thing. They seemed solemnly concerned at Junmyeon’s fate and, like him, they’re still praying that he will eventually recover.

“So, I’m halfway through your friends,” Sehun said with a phone on his ear.

“Why are you talking to your phone?” Junmyeon said. They were in a café near the hospital. This was where Sehun took Junmyeon’s friends to talk.

“So that I have a valid reason of talking to you. And also so that people won’t call in the psych ward on me,” Sehun replied.

“Good thinking!” Junmyeon exclaimed. “Now you can freely talk to me!”

Sehun shrugged. “You didn’t tell me you were athletic in high school.”

Junmyeon waved his hand in dismissal. “Not really. I just wanted to do something in high school. Then I fell in love with track and field.”

“Why didn’t you continue in college?”

“My workload won’t allow me,” Junmyeon said. “Besides, my hands were full in college.”

“There’s this one guy. I forgot his name. He said he was helplessly in love with you in high school.”

Junmyeon raised his brows. “Oh, him!” Then he laughed. “He said that, didn’t he? He told me that almost every day but I know he does not mean ‘love’.”

“What does he mean then?” Sehun said.

“I reminded him of the guy he had a crush on when he was ten. He said he loved him. But he never saw him after grade school. But since I’m the closest remembrance of that love he had, he turned it to me. I know eventually it would die out once he finds that guy.”

Sehun blinked. “Oh, okay. I thought I finally discovered that you had a boyfriend. Didn’t he court you?”

“Why a sudden interest in this topic? Is this highly relevant to the matter at hand?” Junmyeon asked.

He can’t understand himself why he’s asking such questions but he’s desperate to know the answers. “Just answer the question.”

“Yes, he courted me but I turned him down. Gently,” he replied looking away. “I don’t have time for boyfriend in high school.”

“That’s always been your reason,” Sehun retorted.

“What do you mean by that?”

Sehun didn’t hear him. He just saw his fiancé. “Donghae?” Sehun got up and went to him, totally forgetting about Junmyeon’s presence.

“Hey,” Junmyeon tried to follow but he stopped when he saw Donghae.

“Donghae?” Sehun called.

Donghae spun and saw Sehun coming. “Sehun, w-what are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same. I was visiting Junmyeon, my college friend who had an accident, remember? The hospital is just near here.”

“Oh,” Donghae said. “Oh, right. I remembered. How’s he?”

“No change still but we’re hoping for the best. What are you doing here?”

Donghae looked at his watch. It was almost twelve. “Uhm, I have to leave. See you later, okay?” He tried to get away.

“Hey, wait,” he caught his arm. “Have you heard of Eunhyuk?”

“What? Why?” he suddenly sounded apprehensive.

“Mom said he arrived last night. I told mom to call him up and arrange a dinner.”

“That’s good then. I really have to go. Just call me, okay?” then Donghae left.

“That was quick,” Junmyeon said when Sehun returned to their table. But Sehun was lost in thoughts. “Are you okay?”

“That was odd. He was in a hurry. Especially when I mentioned Eunhyuk.”

“Eunhyuk? Isn’t he your cousin? The one closest to you?”

“Yeah,” Sehun replied. He used his ‘phone’ again as the boy in the other table looked at him. “He’s also close to Donghae. That’s why I chose him as my best man. He’s now residing with his family in Canada. But he’s vacationing here now.”

“Oh,” Junmyeon nodded. He had heard Sehun talked about Eunhyuk. And every time he talked about him, it was always full of admiration. “You look up to him, right?”

“Yes,” Sehun quietly replied. His thoughts were still wrapped on his encounter with Donghae.

“There he is!”

They turned at the group of people coming in the café.

Their group of college friends. Together again in this sad reunion.

“Hey,” Sehun waved at them. He heard a faint ‘Over and out’. When he turned sideways, Junmyeon was gone.

His friends greeted him and slowly settled in the table.

“This is an odd get together,” said Baekhyun said.

“Yeah,” Jongdae agreed. “Yixing came too.”

“Of course,” Yixing said. Among their friends, he lived the farthest. “Junmyeon’s my best friend. I just can’t sit around while my best friend’s…”

He couldn’t finish his sentence. All of them still can’t accept what has happened to Junmyeon.

“I still can’t believe it,” said Chanyeol. There were seven other people in the table with Sehun. All of them felt that it was so soon for Junmyeon.

“He doesn’t deserve this,” Yixing said. He was restraining his tears.

“He’s one amazing guy,” Minseok said. “If it wasn’t for Sehun, I would’ve courted him.” Everyone turned to Minseok. “What? Don’t tell me you don’t find him attractive.”

“You gave your way for Sehun?” asked Kyungsoo, surprised.

“Yeah,” Minseok replied. “I should have continued on my plan. None of this could’ve happen.”

“Are implying that it was my fault that he’s in the hospital now?” Sehun angrily asked.

“Maybe,” Minseok said, holding back his anger.

“How can you say that?” Jongin asked Minseok.

Minseok shrugged. “I just have a feeling.”

“Guys, stop it. We have no time for that,” Baekhyun pushed Sehun back in his chair as he rose to punch Minseok. “We are all hurt and angry over what happened to Junmyeon. We just want someone to blame just so we can take out our anger on him.”

Everyone knew that Baekhyun was right. Something more than the drunk driver is to be blamed for Junmyeon’s accident.

“He loved us,” Sehun said quietly.

“Who?” Yixing asked.

“Junmyeon,” Sehun said. “He valued us so much more than we can imagine. He wanted us to know that.”

They were silent for several moments.

“That guy,” Chanyeol smiled. “He sure knows how to make us feel guilty over our short-comings and disputes with him. Remember the time during your birthday, Yixing” he turned to Yixing whose face brightened at the memory.

The rest of the afternoon was spent talking about the happiest moment they’ve spent with Junmyeon.

***

“How was it?” Junmyeon asked when Sehun approached. They were back again in the empty playground.

“Much harder than I thought but more fun than the rest,” he replied as he sat on the other swing. “I almost ruined it by almost punching Minseok.”

“Why?” he asked. He recalled in college that Minseok and Sehun had a strained friendship.

“He blamed me for what happened to you.”

“What? He did what? Why?” Junmyeon stopped his swing.

He shrugged. “Let’s just forget it. What matters is that I was able to convey to them how you felt. And they believed it.”

Junmyeon nodded. He wanted to be there with his friends, but he was afraid that he won’t be able to bear it. Still, he’s happy that he was able to tell them, through Sehun, how he felt for them.

“So, who’s next?” Sehun opened his diary.

“Mr. Lee,” he replied with a smile on his lips.

“Your Dean?” Sehun asked, bewildered. He had heard Mr. Lee’s reputation in school. He was one person you don’t want to mess with and don’t want to be your teacher. “He made it in your list?”

He nodded. “Of course, he helped shape my future.”

“The guy is the total epitome of hell,” he can’t help but say. “And you idolized him,” he shook his head.

“I won’t deny that he has a not-so-nice reputation in school, I myself can attest to that, but he was an ideal professional. He’s the best teacher I got. Though he’s tough and scary, I wouldn’t have achieved what I had after college if it wasn’t for him.”

He looked at his. He saw total admiration and nothing else. “You wanted to become like him.”

“More or less, but not the scary part. I think his story is not new to you, but it really helped me know my perspective. After all he’s been through, he’s still beat the odds.”

He knew Mr. Lee’s story, all right. It’s the most favorite gossip in school. He heard that Mr. Lee wasn’t that ‘scary’ before. He became a stone after the murder of his family. The culprit was caught of course, but the damage has been done. He wasn’t the same again.

“Okay, where can I find him?”

Sehun saw Mr. Lee alone. It was already dark and he found it odd to still find him in a cemetery. Junmyeon had followed Mr. Lee and this was where he found him.

_Mr. Lee, _the diary read,_ is the most complex person I have met. He claims to be nobody’s hero, but I consider him as mine. Because, I know, despite of the roughness, toughness and scary façade he put on, he is as gentle as the breeze and as caring as a father to a child. Losing everything one holds dear is hard but getting up and facing such painful loss every day is even harder. That’s why I admire him, a battered soul with a strength that could face anything. He is the most terrorizing person I have ever met. Just one of his looks is enough to send chills to your spine and guarantees sleepless nights. He’s more effective than any scary movies I’ve seen. He terrorized everyone and said he cared for nobody but himself. Well I think that’s more of his defense mechanism. Pushing away someone you really cared about. But for me, I think that is his way of caring, unusual it may be. Why then would he push us to be better? Why then would he always let us realize what is important and what is not? It’s because he cared for us. He doesn’t want us to go through what he had been through. I can see beyond the stern face he put on. I know he cares. He’s just afraid to show it. And if I could just tell him, thank you for caring that much. I wish there would come a time that I can see him smile for I never did in school._

“Mr. Lee?” Sehun called as he approached, his voice slightly quivering.

Mr. Lee turned and gave him a look that made Sehun wish he could just disappear.

“That’s what he thinks of me, huh?” Mr. Lee said. They were seated in a fancy-looking restaurant.

“Y-yes,” Sehun timidly replied. He kept glancing to the door and wishing he could just go.

He shook his head. “Clever guy,” he quietly said.

Sehun looked at him, transfixed. A smile was on Mr. Lee’s lips.

“He’s one of the brightest students I ever taught,” he continued. “Always trying to prove himself, always ahead of everyone else. Sometimes I saw myself in him. That’s why I loved to always terrorize him so that he would know whom and what to prioritize.”

“He knew that,” Sehun quietly added.

“What?”

“He knew what you were trying to tell him,” Sehun explained. “I think like you, he also has a hard time showing people that he cares for them. That’s why he wanted to thank you.”

“How do you know all this?” Mr. Lee asked.

“Because he told me,” Sehun said. Right now, he doesn’t care if Mr. Lee found him crazy, he just realized how much struggle Junmyeon has been going through with himself during all this time.

Realization etched Mr. Lee’s face. “I don’t believe in ghosts,” Mr. Lee said. “But I do believe that the people who loved us never really left us.”

Sehun took his time to realize Mr. Lee’s words. “Sir, I think you’re mistaken. I’m just a friend to Junmyeon.”

“On whose point of view? Junmyeon’s or yours?” Mr. Lee stood up. “Thank you for telling me this.” And he left.

*** 

Sehun found Junmyeon in his bedroom, feeling totally at ease.

“How did it go?” Junmyeon asked as soon as Sehun walked in his bedroom.

“He’s not that scary after all,” Sehun said as he pulled a chair and sat down facing him.

“What?” he felt self-conscious as Sehun stared at his.

“Just something Mr. Lee said,” Sehun replied.

“About?” he inquired.

“Why do you think I can see and hear you?” Sehun asked his.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe you have extra sensory power?”

He shook his head. “Maybe because of some strong emotional attachment?”

Junmyeon looked thoughtful for a moment. “Hmm…there was once a movie I saw. She can see the soul of her best friend because of the strong emotional attachment of the dead friend on her,” he said. Then, as if he could blush, he turned away from him.

“Why –”

The bedroom door opened and Sehun’s mother came in. She wore a worried face.

“Sehun?” she called. Her voice was slightly shaking. “Eunhyuk and Donghae are here.”

“What?” Sehun asked in surprise. “Why are they together?” he stood up and glanced at Junmyeon who gave him a nod.

“Sehun, listen first to what they have to say. They already told us this afternoon but I think you should hear it for yourself.”

“What?” he felt suddenly tense. Would this explain Donghae’s odd behavior in the café? Why is he with Eunhyuk? He thought all these as images were formed in his head and coiling his heart.

Eunhyuk and Donghae were seated side by side in the couch. Sehun’s father was seated in the nearby sofa. His face was rigid and unreadable. His mother stood behind his father.

“What’s all this about?” Sehun asked, feeling the tension in the air.

Donghae looked from him to Eunhyuk. Eunhyuk nodded and held his hand. Sehun stilled his breath.

“Sehun, I owe you a thousand apologies. No, much more than that. I don’t even think if you’ll be able to forgive me after what I have to confess,” Eunhyuk said.

Sehun looked from Eunhyuk to Donghae’s tear-streaked face to his mom’s silent plea for understanding and to his father’s more rigid face. Sehun knew. Sehun knew what they’re about to say. “What joke is this?”

“The truth is…Sehun, I love him and he loves me. We've been seeing each other while he’s with you. I’m sorry Sehun. I was –”

Sehun reached out and punched Eunhyuk. The guy whom he considered brother betrayed him. His mother and Donghae ran to stop them. “Why?! I respected you! I looked up to you!”

“Sehun, stop it!” Donghae tried to pull him away.

“Son, listen to Eunhyuk first!” Sehun’s mother turned to his husband. “Help us here!”

“No,” his father said. “My sentiments are with my son.”

Sehun shouted and kicked the center table as he made his way to his bedroom.

“Sehun!” mixture of voices called him.

Junmyeon stood aghast at the sight of Sehun. He had heard the commotion outside and was about to go and see but Sehun has walked in his room. He closed the door with a loud bang.

“Sehun, are you okay?” Junmyeon asked. He never saw him like this. “I heard raised voices. I was –”

“Please, leave me alone,” Sehun said through clenched teeth. His head hung lowly and eyes shut tight.

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“I said leave!” He blindly threw Junmyeon’s diary at him. It landed on the wall opposite the door. Junmyeon was nowhere in sight.

Sehun doesn’t know what time is it. And he doesn’t care. His mother and father had been knocking on his door since last night but he didn’t answer back. He just lied there and thought about how blind he had been.

He sat up and Junmyeon’s diary had been the first thing his eyes saw after staring at the ceiling for too long. He picked it up and wondered where he was now. It’s his final day today. He doesn’t know how much time Junmyeon has left. He gripped the diary tightly. His behavior towards Junmyeon last night was inexcusable. But he was so enraged that he didn’t know what he was doing. It would be pointless now to continue Junmyeon’s request. Maybe his last 24-hours were up. The least he could do now is to return the diary.

But fear and panic gripped him. What if it really is Junmyeon’s last day on Earth? Could he handle it? He’s used to his presence now. He couldn’t think of a life without Junmyeon.

He couldn’t understand himself. He’s angry. He’s confused. But more importantly, he’s scared to lose Junmyeon. His fear is stronger than the anger he felt towards Donghae and Eunhyuk’s betrayal.

He searched everywhere for Junmyeon. The school, the playground and his home. But he wasn’t there. He finally decided to go to the hospital for he thinks this is where he’ll find him.

But he didn’t need to reach the hospital. He saw him standing outside the café near the hospital.

“Junmyeon!” he called. He was so glad to find him that he reached out for him, totally forgetting that he can’t hold him.

Junmyeon heard Sehun coming but he didn’t turn. He just continued to look inside the café.

“Where have you been?” Sehun asked. He saw the passer’s-by confused look and Sehun decided to use his ‘phone’. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“I didn’t know you would be up to it today, especially after what happened last night,” Junmyeon quietly replied.

“Well…you could just forget it. It’s my life. It’s yours that mattered more importantly.”

He shook his head. “No, I think we can agree that I have no life in me.”

“Don’t say that. You –”

“In four hours now they will be pulling out my life-support system, and I will finally be sleeping forever,” he said calmly.

He gritted his teeth at his statement. “Why are you giving up?”

“I’m not giving up. I’m just telling the truth. Thank you by the way for doing what you had done.”

“Please stop saying that,” he could feel the panic rising inside him.

“Just one more favor Sehun and I’ll be gone for good,” he said.

“If it is your last favor, then I wouldn’t be doing it,” Sehun answered.

Junmyeon turned to him with a smile. “Oh, I think you’ll be doing it anyways,” he nodded his head towards the café.

Sehun looked at the café. Junmyeon’s grandmother was inside, together with one of his nephews.

“Just her. Please,” he said trying hard to control his voice.

When Sehun turned, Junmyeon was gone.

Sehun walked in the café. This was like an impromptu interview. He hadn’t read what Junmyeon’s journal entry in his diary about his grandmother, but he believes he knows what he wanted to say.

Junmyeon’s grandmother sat on a table at the farthest corner. She was helping a little boy eating his ice cream.

“Ma’am?” Sehun called as he stopped by his table.

“Yes?” the old lady looked up. “May I help you?” the lady asked.

“I’m Sehun, a friend of Junmyeon’s,” Sehun managed to choke out.

Recognition etched on her face. Her eyes glossed upon hearing Junmyeon’s name. “Sit young man,” she invited. “Are you here to see…to…”

“No,” Sehun answered. He knew what she would have wanted to ask. “Even if I could, I wouldn’t…”

“My Junmyeon,” she softly said. “I can’t believe he’s gone…” Her voice broke at the last word.

“You were very close to him,” Sehun said. He could feel what the old lady was feeling.

She smiled sadly. “Junmyeon’s…Junmyeon’s…among my grandchildren, he works the hardest. I had seen his struggle, his sacrifices. He wanted so many things, not for himself but for others. He would rather that only he feels the pain than for his loved ones to get hurt. That’s the kind of guy he was. But to be gone so young…”

Sehun nodded. His face grew hot. He felt tears could fall down any moment from his eyes. “He loves you. He wanted you to know that. If he could say goodbye to any of us, it would be you whom he’ll have a hard time of telling.”

“I knew of course that he loved me and his entire family,” she said. “Though he doesn’t tell us that but it’s very obvious in his actions. The way he would be yelling when he gets angry at any of us, the way he would be laughing with us, the way he would be crying for us. We know, that’s what we wanted to let him know too.”

Sehun nodded again. “He knew that.”

“Grandma,” the little boy was tugging his great-grandma’s arm. “I’m sticky,” he complained. Ice cream was all over on his hands.

“Okay, okay,” the grandma said as she opened his bag. “Where is that wet tissue?” she said to himself. She took out several papers from her bag to get the tissue.

Sehun recognized the faint gold crumpled paper. “Could I see this?” Sehun asked as he reached for it.

She looked at him. “Oh, that? Junmyeon was clutching that during his accident,” she replied as she continued to clean the little boy’s hands.

Sehun’s hands trembled as he clutched the crumpled paper and smoothened it out on the table.

It was his wedding invitation.

_I would like to spend my final hour with him,_ the torn page from Junmyeon’s diary read. _Of course he doesn’t know my feelings for him. Well, it really is my fault. I wasn’t ready for a relationship that time, but I was absolutely, positively in love with him. I just don’t know why I got cold feet. Being with him is more than what I could ask for. Though years had passed, my feelings for him grew stronger instead of dying out. What if I’m too late for his love then? Or does he still have his love for me? My heart aches on what would be his only possible answer. Am I ready for this? No, I’m not. Would I be content then just to be the one loving? I’m tired of this. But if it is the only way that I can be with him, then I wouldn’t be asking for more. If it would be my last day here on earth, I would want to spend my last hour with him. To see him, to hold him, to let him hold me just this once. It would be a comfort for me that when I leave this world, he was my last memory. That when I depart from this world forever, it was his arms that last held me._

Sehun’s heart raced as were his feet. He really had been so blind. Weren’t there clues laid before him? Junmyeon’s accident being near their house. Junmyeon’s evasiveness every time he talked about him being in the diary. Junmyeon’s reaction when he asked who the last person on the list is. Junmyeon’s answer when he asked if he belonged to the ‘Other friends’ category. He recalled what Junmyeon said about that. _“They are the siblings God forgot to give me.”_ He used ‘they’ not ‘you’. If he was indeed in that category, Junmyeon would have said _‘You are the siblings God forgot to give me.’_ He used ‘they’. Junmyeon was a word person, he wouldn’t be caught using the improper pronouns in sentences he would write and say. He’s OC that way.

“Damn,” he told himself. He should’ve known this. He wasn’t overreacting. He knew he was right. It was his fault after all that Junmyeon was comatosed now in the hospital. His own fault. It’s his fault that Junmyeon would be gone forever.

“Sehun?” Donghae opened the door. Though surprised, he ushered him in. Eunhyuk stood as Sehun entered.

“Sehun –”

“I’m not here to talk about you,” he pointed Eunhyuk and Donghae. Then he turned to Donghae. “The poem in the invitation, where did you get it?”

“The what?” Donghae asked.

“The poem in here!” Sehun repeated, almost shouted shoving the invitation in Donghae’s face.

“Weren’t you the one who put that there?” Donghae asked. He remembered that Sehun insisted on putting that poem in the wedding invitations.

“Yes, I was the one,” he said, impatience enunciated in his words. “Don’t you remember this poem?” he raised the crumpled invitation again.

“I…I thought you saw it on the internet then decided to put it there,” he answered. He can’t fathom what Sehun wanted to know.

Sehun felt something dropped inside him. An overwhelming sadness engulfed him. It was like his energy was zapped out of his body. He suddenly felt so weak. “Don’t you remember this poem, Donghae? You gave this to me years ago, when you decided to be my boyfriend.”

Donghae looked thoughtful and sudden realization came to his. Sehun also understood.

“You didn’t write this, did you? Then where did you get it?” Sehun tried to sound calm and casual but he couldn’t because panic started to rise again as he waited for an answer. “Please tell me honestly!”

“I…I’m sorry. I totally forgot that one, Sehun. I –”

“Answer me!” he took a step towards his. Eunhyuk had to step in between them.

“Sehun, is this really important? Maybe –”

“Stay out of this,” Sehun warned. His face was so fierce that Eunhyuk froze. “Answer me honestly Donghae,” his voice was gentler now. “Where did you get this poem? If I remember correctly, this was the reason I fell further in love with you. Because of the poem. Because of how it was beautifully written for me. Tell me please. I beg of you.”

Donghae let his tears flow as he confessed. He felt there’s no sense in hiding everything. “It was in your locker. Remember when I came and helped you clear up your locker? I found it there. I thought you knew about it so I read it. It was so beautiful but I didn’t know what it was then. Then you came up and asked me what I was reading. I held it up to you. You thought I wrote it. I didn’t mean to fool you Sehun. I did love you. At that time, I was wondering why your attention to me was waning, but I wanted to be your boyfriend badly, so I thought that if I claim the poem as mine, you would continue to pursue me.”

“And I did,” Sehun said. “Damn it, I did.”

“I don’t know if you’ll be ever to forgive me for all of these Sehun, but I’m terribly sorry for all of it,” Donghae said sincerely. “If there’s any way I can –”

“No,” he turned towards the door. “There nothing you can do. There’s nothing anyone can do now. He’ll be gone. Damn it, he’ll be gone!” He let his tears fall.

Donghae gasped and clamped a hand to his mouth. “Oh my God!” he exclaimed. “It’s Junmyeon’s. Junmyeon wrote that poem for you, didn’t he?”

Sehun was afraid to speak. He felt that if he opened his mouth, he might scream. To answer Donghae’s question, he just nodded.

“Oh my God,” Donghae cried again. Like Sehun, he’s no longer restraining his tears.

“Who’s Junmyeon?” Eunhyuk asked Donghae. “Is he the one in the hospital?”

“Yes,” he replied weakly.

Eunhyuk finally understood Sehun’s agony. “Sehun, I’m so sorry.”

“I’m sorry too,” he finally managed to say. “I lost the love I just found.” With heavy heart, Sehun blindly left Donghae and Eunhyuk. 

***

Sehun ran as fast as he could. He only has less than an hour left. He immediately proceeded to the empty playground, because he knew he will be there.

He found him in the swing again, face forward, gazing infinitely, both hands on the chains of the swing.

Junmyeon heard Sehun’s arrival but made no recognition. He knew this would be very hard.

“So it was me,” Sehun said as he stopped before him. “It was me after all. I was the last person.”

“You figured it out eventually,” he said, still gazing forward.

“Why did you do this, then? Why?”

“It was never my intention. I hoped that you won’t find it out. Or if you did, I hoped that you’ll find it out after I’m gone,” he said calmly.

“So you remembered it all,” he accused. “You knew about the reason why you were there near our house during the accident. That’s why you’ve been looking at the pictures. That’s why –”

“Sehun,” Junmyeon said. “This is why you are not supposed to know. I can’t leave you like this.”

“Then don’t,” he said, his voice cracking. “Please don’t.”

Junmyeon smiled as he looked up to him. “How I wish that I can, but I can’t Sehun. We both knew that.”

“Why then?” Sehun sank to his knees so he’s eye-level with Junmyeon. He let his tears fall again. “Tell me…why this has happened to us…”

“It wasn’t meant to be,” Junmyeon quietly said. “You and I weren’t meant to be Sehun. Because if we were, then none of this could’ve happened.”

“You sounded so sure and calm!” he said, enraged. “While I’m here, tormented!”

“Please don’t be like that,” he pleaded.

“Then how must I act then? Tell me! Because I don’t know now…Why…Why?!”

“Sehun…” Junmyeon said softly. “We have to accept it. This is how it supposed to end.”

“Easy for you to say because you won’t be here to feel all these!”

“To feel all what Sehun? To feel all what? Tell me Sehun because I can assure you that I have felt all that when I was still alive.”

“So what? These are all punishment for me? Punishment for my stupidity of not looking your way?”

He shook his head. “You’re not making this easier for me.”

“Damn right I’m not making it easier for you!” he bellowed. “Why did this have to happen, Junmyeon?”

He wanted to answer but he, himself, doesn’t know. He can’t bear to see him like this. “Sehun, I need to know you’ll be able to pull all through this. Please. For me.”

“I can’t,” he said. “I can’t let you go. Please don’t go. I’m begging you. Please.”

How much Junmyeon wanted to stay.

“I’m sorry,” Sehun said.

“For what?”

“For everything. I’m sorry. I was so blind.”

He shook his head. “No, none of this was your fault. When I received your wedding invitation, I was planning to finally give you up. But when I read the poem in the invitation… I placed that poem in your locker during our last day in college, but you took no notice of it, right? But when I saw it, I just couldn’t help myself. So I went to see you. But I was near your house, I held myself back. If you found the poem then, but didn’t tell me anything about, then it meant that you didn’t feel the same for me after all. Also, you decided to marry, so that was the end for me. I just wanted you to know then about the poem. That I wrote it for you, to finally profess to you everything I felt for you.”

“Donghae took the poem as his own,” Sehun said. “I fell more in love with him because of that poem. It should’ve been you from the start.”

“I see,” he nodded to himself. “Then it goes to show then.”

“Goes to show what?”

“How clearly there wasn’t any you and me in the first place,” he said.

“How can you say that?” Sehun asked. “How can you –”

“Sehun,” he said. “If it were really us who were meant to be, then none of this could’ve happen. If we really loved each other, we were supposed to be together despite several distractions and misguidance. I think this is God’s harsher way of saying no to all my prayers.”

Sehun’s digital watch chimed six o’clock. “Half an hour. Half an hour left ‘til you…I should’ve known this before. You should’ve told me beforehand, on the first day. Then we could’ve…”

He stood in front of him. “I told you it was better that you won’t know.”

“We could’ve been together for years, if only I wasn’t so blinded –”

“Sehun,” he called. “Please stand,” he asked. As Sehun stood, Junmyeon prayed that he’d be allowed to hold him. “Just this once,” he whispered to the heavens as he took a step forward to embrace him.

When Sehun felt Junmyeon’s arms on his neck, he pulled him closer to him. “Junmyeon…”

“I don’t care if we don’t have years together…just this moment, just this minute…it is enough for me…”

He clutched his tightly. “Don’t go…”

“A final favor,” he said. His voice was growing fainter. “Please hold my hand when they took the life support system out of me. Please. I need to know you’re there until the very end. Please.”

“But please don’t go. Please don’t leave me. Don’t go. Please. I love you. Don’t go.”

Junmyeon chuckled in his arms. “I love you too,” he whispered.

Sehun heard a faint ‘Over and out’.

Then he was alone.

***

Junmyeon awoke with a heavy head. He felt he has been sleeping for quite a long time. He felt groggy and felt he’s in a strange room.

He finally opened his eyes.

“Hi.”

Junmyeon had to blink several times. Sehun was beside his bed, holding his hand. He tried to retrieve his hand but Sehun held it tightly.

“No, I’m not letting go of you,” he plainly said.

“Why are you here? What happened? Is this a hospital?” he wanted to get up but he felt dizzy. He avoided his eyes.

“You don’t remember?” Sehun asked, eyes accusing. “On the day you received my wedding invitation, you rushed off to see me but had an accident, right?”

His face felt hot. “So what then, I wanted to congratulate you.”

“Liar,” he said. “Honestly, you don’t remember anything after that?”

“No…why won’t you tell me then?”

“I won’t tell you. You have to figure it out yourself,” he replied.

He pouted. He doesn’t like not-knowing. “You’re supposed to be with your fiancé,” he retorted.

“It’s over between us,” Sehun stated.

“Oh,” was all Junmyeon could say. “What happened?”

“I wanted to tell you but I think you’ll find it out eventually,” he said again. “I’ll give you a hint though, it all started with a poem I put in the invitation.”

Blush rose up to Junmyeon’s cheeks when he saw Sehun’s grin. His secret’s finally out. He covered his face with a pillow and cried a muffled: “Oh no!”

“Seriously, you don’t remember anything at all?” Sehun tried to pull the pillow away from Junmyeon’s face.

He held the pillow tightly. “No…I just felt like I’m in a dream for a very long time.”

“Was I in it?” Sehun teased.

“Why would you be in it?” he replied. Sehun chuckled. “What’s funny?”

“Long story,” he said. “You’ll think I’d gone crazy.”

“Why?” he peeked from the pillow. His eyes widened when Sehun held up his diary. “That’s mine!” he threw the pillow at Sehun.

Sehun deflected the pillow. “I know it’s yours,” Sehun said. “Did you dream of handing me this diary?”

Junmyeon didn’t answer. He didn’t dream that he handed the dairy directly but he dreamed of something like that. “Sort of,” he admitted. “Sehun, what really happened?”

“You were comatosed after the accident. The doctors operated the clot on your brain but they weren’t positive about your recovery. They decided to watch you for 72 hours. If there was no change within that period, then they’ll have to proclaim you dead.”

He was awed by what he heard. “Wow.”

“Wow indeed. You were a medical miracle, by the way. There we were, crying our eyes out because they’re taking off the life-support. Just then, you moved your fingers then muttered ‘ice cream’,” Sehun can’t help but laugh.

He frowned at him. “I can’t see anything funny at all.”

“No, you couldn’t,” he composed himself. “Because you were the one who’s funny. We thought we heard wrong. Then you muttered again, loudly, ‘I want ice cream’.” 

“I don’t believe you.”

“There were other witnesses, you know. You almost gave your family a heart attack.”

At the mention of his family, he glanced around. “Where are they?”

“I let them take some rest. They were practically living here,” Sehun answered.

“I worried them a lot,” he said.

“You worried a lot of people,” he gestured at the other table.

Junmyeon looked at the table and tears flowed from his eyes. There were several flowers, cards and balloons on the table.

“Others couldn’t fit in, so your family brought it to your room at home,” Sehun said as he wiped his tears. “You touched a lot of people, even Mr. Lee. He came by yesterday morning.”

He cleared his throat. “Then I’m glad I’m alive then,” he joked.

“I’m glad about that too,” he said as he moved to lie beside Junmyeon. “Really glad.”

Junmyeon moved to the side to make room for him. Then he snuggled closer to him and leaned his head on his chest like it was the most natural thing to do and was finally content to hear his heartbeat. “I could get used to this.”

Sehun wrapped him in his arms. “Don’t worry,” he said as he pressed his lips on Junmyeon’s forehead. “We have a lot of years for that.”

“Promise?” he asked.

“You’re the one who should promise. It’s you who almost left me.”

He looked up and met Sehun’s gaze. “Then I promise I won’t do it again.”

“That’s better,” he said. “Perfectly better.” 

THE END

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all liked it! :)


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